CHICAGO — What we learned Saturday afternoon as Wisconsin frustrated — and outran — the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers 68-56 to deny IU its first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament title game since 2001 and defeat them for the 12th consecutive time:

IU to Indy?

It is not clear whether Indiana will lose its status as the No. 1-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and, more to the point, its opportunity to play potential Midwest Region games just a few miles from campus in Indianapolis.

But the only rival to that Midwest spot is Louisville, which won the Big East Tournament by beating Syracuse on Saturday night.

Even with the tournament title to add to the Cardinals' shared regular-season crown, it does not appear their case would trump Indiana's. The Hoosiers own seven top-25 RPI wins, and the Cards would finish with four by defeating Syracuse. The Cards have strong road wins against Memphis and Syracuse, but Indiana's road trio of Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan are like the royal flush of road performance this season.

However, Louisville is a strong No. 1 seed and it's possible the committee could want to reward its surge down the stretch. It's not an official factor in selections, but all committee members certainly could be swayed by what they're seeing of late.

Wisconsin's fast break killed

Oh, yeah, you read that right. Wisconsin pushed the ball in transition after every defensive rebound and was effective in getting the ball to the rim and striking with trailing 3-point shooters.

Asked what he thought America would be thinking to see the Badgers taking off on the break like that, versatile forward Mike Bruesewitz answered, “Hey, those boys are athletic.”

(He’s got as good a sense of comic timing as he does as a defender).

The fast break is not something the Badgers have done regularly, and it seemed to unsettle the Hoosiers. The most obvious example came after IU tied the game at 40-all with a sizzling drive down the left side of the lane by freshman point guard Yogi Ferrell. A couple trips later, with the scored tied at 43-43, Victor Oladipo missed a shot, and Wisconsin wing Sam Dekker rebounded and pushed the ball. He was challenged at the rim by Oladipo but hung on long enough to draw the foul as he converted a tough layup.

That could have been a typical and-one opportunity, but it became much more. Dekker missed the free throw, but center Frank Kaminsky tipped the rebound to himself. Forward Ryan Evans found Dekker open on the left wing, and a 3-pointer there turned that into a five-point possession and a 48-43 UW lead.

That didn't all show up under "fast-break points," but it all showed up on Wisconsin's side of the scoreboard.

IU still takes tough shots

When a good player takes a challenged shot, it might be more likely to connect than if a bad player were to try one. But it's less likely to be a basket than if a good player takes an unguarded shot.

This has been an issue for the Hoosiers since early in the season, when they blew out North Carolina at home. Because most of the time the Hoosiers are playing five scorers, all five feel confident in taking shots. When that happens, though, center Cody Zeller gets fewer touches in dangerous situations and the players around him see their percentages go down.

IU guard Jordan Hulls talked Friday about how pleased he was to see IU making progress in this area the past few weeks, but it has been more episodic. In the second half against Michigan, for instance, IU ran its system and shot 52 percent from the field, with Zeller scoring 16 of his team-high 25 points.

It's not that it's just the other guys and not Zeller, though. With 6:15 left in Saturday's game, he got the ball on the left elbow in an isolation situation against Jared Berggren, a member of the Big Ten's all-defensive team. Zeller drove the ball but could not get a step, and yet he tried to force the ball through Berggren, anyway. Given that IU hadn't scored in more than three minutes, it was a big miss.

“I always want to be aggressive,” Zeller said.

Indiana coach Tom Crean said it was clear there were areas the Hoosiers still must improve to excel in the NCAA Tournament.

Bruesewitz is the key

Going back three seasons, it's easy to see where versatile Bruesewitz has his fingerprints — and a few forearms here and there —on the biggest Wisconsin victories.

He made the biggest shots when UW upset No. 1 Ohio State in February 2011 and knocked the Buckeyes from the unbeaten ranks. When UW knocked off No. 1 IU in January, he played 33 minutes, scored 10 points and passed for four assists. The bigger the game, it seems, the greater his impact.

Saturday he defended Oladipo — the Sporting News player of the year — and made it difficult for him to get good looks at the basket or open driving lanes. And when Oladipo did drive, Wisconsin's consistent ability to wall off the lane without yielding inside opportunities took over. Oladipo shot only 4-of-12 from the field and scored 10 points.

“He’s opportunistic,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “He’s so happy to be playing this year after what happened earlier. He’s just a guy, high-energy, and he’s going to try to make things happen.”

Bruesewitz's stat line wasn't much prettier than his curly red hair, presently fashioned a bit like Larry from the Three Stooges. Bruesewitz scored five points on 1-of-2 shooting, which shows how numbers can be misleading.

His game was no joke. You want a stat? His defensive excellence helped Wisconsin limit IU to 0.89 points per possession, the lowest output of the season for the nation's most efficient offense. You've got to look a little to find it — BTN's "Stat Geeks" dished that up — but it's a heck of a number.